Help for living life in health and wellness - mind, body, and spirit!

September 25, 2011

You and I are in a silent battle for our health, vitality, and even our youth! We are bombarded daily with silent but deadly toxins externally in our homes and our offices! We are bombarded internally with toxins that cause ill health, disease, pre-mature aging, and even death! You most likely have a toxic waste dump right in your very home . . .I know your thinking "what toxic dump do I have? I don't have that problem . . . . or do you?This post will start a mini-series on toxic hazards you expose yourself and your family to every day, and I think you will be quite shocked at what will be revealed! Today we'll deal with the toxic waste we have around us externally.

December 29, 2009

Two new studies have shown that fermenting soy dramatically reduces its potential allergenicity, and also increases the number of essential amino acids in soy products.

When soy products were fermented, immunoreactivity was reduced by as much as 99 percent, according to tests that compared the blood plasma reactions for both fermented and unfermented soy products.

Fermentation had also improved the essential amino acid composition in the soy products and produced new peptides that may be beneficial. This was attributed to partial digestion of large soybean peptides by enzymes secreted by the microorganisms used in fermentation.

Sources:

Science Daily March 6, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Whether or not soy is healthy for you is a hotly debated issue. The debate stems largely from the fact that health benefits of fermented soy have been misconstrued as being applicable to nonfermented soy as well, which is simply not the case.

How a Fact Became a Lie

Fermented soybeans have been a tradition in Japanese cuisine for more than 1,000 years. The nutritive value of natto, for example, was so high that Samurai consumed it daily, and even fed it to their horses to increase their speed and strength.

Nonfermented soy products, on the other hand, are NOT health foods, even though manufacturers of soy products have been allowed to label them “heart healthy” since 1999. The “health benefits” of nonfermented soy were simply created through slick marketing by the edible oil industry in the US; invented to create a profitable market for the otherwise unusable byproducts of the soybean oil industry.

The deceptive heart health claim originated from the low rates of heart disease and certain cancers seen in East Asian populations. However, in reality, Asians do not consume nearly as much soy as has been generally assumed, and what they do eat has been fermented for long periods.

What’s Wrong With Nonfermented Soy?

Nonfermented soy products contain phytic acid, which has anti-nutritive properties. Phytic acid binds with certain nutrients, such as iron, to inhibit their absorption. This is a direct, physical effect that takes place in your digestive system. They’ve also been found to contain toxins and disruptive plant estrogens that can damage your thyroid.

Most processed, nonfermented soy products also contain added flavorings, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers and synthetic nutrients – a far cry from what you get after the traditional fermentation process that ancient cultures put their soy through before they would eat it.

As a result of modern processing, most of today’s soy foods are chockfull of anti-nutrients that have been linked to:

As often as I’ve warned against nonfermented soy, such as fresh or dry whole soybeans, soy nuts, soy milk and tofu, I’ve also extolled the wonderful health benefits of traditionally fermented foods, and fermented soy is part of that pack.

After a long fermentation process, the phytic acid and antinutrient levels of the soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties – such as the creation of natural probiotics -- become available to your digestive system.

It also greatly reduces the levels of dangerous isoflavones, which are similar to estrogen in their chemical structure, and can interfere with the action of your own estrogen production.

So if you want to take advantage of the health benefits of soy, go ahead! Just make sure you’re eating the fermented varieties and avoid all nonfermented soy products.

Natto is actually a food I eat nearly every day as it is the highest source of vitamin K2 on the planet and has a very powerful beneficial bacteria, bacillus subtilis. It can usually be found in any Asian grocery store.

May 17, 2009

Thought I'd send out an update on my toxic waste cleanup! I don't know about you, but if money grew on trees in my yard, I'd buy all organic foods regardless of the cost. But I have a budget and have to find healthy stuff at the regular stores for the bulk of what we eat. I do shop the health food stores, but I can't buy everything from there - at least not yet! So here's my updated strategy on staying as toxic free as possible!

Reading labels carefully again. If it has too many 'chemical' words, I tend to put it down. But I am finding more foods that are msg/glutamic acid and HFCS free. Very happy about that! I'm not totally throwing out seaweed, wheat free soy sauces, or yeasts. Just making sure it's natural and not too much.

Buying locally grown veggies at our farmer's market, but I also grow veggies in my own garden. There are great prices on some organic produce at my local Walmart store.

Reducing sugar by using Stevia, TruVia, and Xylitol. I'm also trying getting my chocolate fix with a small square of dark chocolate a day. I'm looking at some recipes to combine chocolate with fiber, nuts, or dried coconut for a sweet lo-cal treat. As for ice cream - which is one of my favorites - we're going to buy an ice cream maker and make our own healthy versions with the healthy sweetners! I'm excited about that! I don't totally throw out cane sugar, I do use the organic brands and sometimes do a combo of sugar/sweetner depending on what I'm making.

Grains are harder since I'm gluten free, however, flax seed and gluccomannon and other fibers help greatly when I make my own breads. There are great choices to buy as well. For my hubby who is not GF, I buy the organic higher fiber breads for him.

Some great finds recently: Kettle Brand chips has some great flavored chips with no or natural glutamic acids (msg's). My hubby & son still want flavored chips and they will eat these! I'm know there are others that I haven't found yet. LiteHouse brand dressings, dips/sauces. Still looking for more, though.

Unfortunately, we live about 1 to 1 1/2 hours away from large Health Food stores that would carry lots more great choices. But our stores are getting more in all the time.

Gotta figure out restaurants at some point . . . . do you know good info?

April 28, 2009

Well, I'm going to try and wrap up the MSG info on this post. Maybe we can revisit it in the future for additional, helpful info, but for now let's finish it off.

First, I thought some of you might want to see some actual lab studies done on MSG rats - quite interesting if you can understand all of it. I didn't need to read/understand it all to get the gist of what MSG does to the rat!

As for me, I'm a bit frustrated in my food choices. I'm already living gluten free, and having to add another list of ingredients to avoid is frustrating - especially when it is hard to know 100% about the MSG. I've written a few companies about particular products I liked and found out another interesting yet frustrating problem.

You have to ask if it contains free glutamic acids - not just monosodium glutamate - since there are so many variations of this stuff! And they don't have to answer about all of them if you don't specifically ask!

Now the really frustrating part of all this is, glutamic acid is a naturally occurring thing on it's own in fermented products such as soy sauce. I don't think a naturally occurring glutamate would be the same as the manufactured flavor enhancers as far as reacting negatively in the body. I don't think being key here! There's so much information out there on this subject that is hard to sift through it all, and I can't say for sure.

I've looked over the lists of all the glutamic acid names and here's a few that really get me!

hydrolyzed proteins - soy or whey

autolyzed yeast or yeast extracts

whey proteins

sodium & calcium caseinates

Look at your "healthy" protein shake ingredients - see any of the above? All of mine had hydrolyzed or whey proteins except for a not so nice tasting rice protein! Read some labels on the all natural, organic, healthy foods out there. See one of these on there? Yep, you will! These are also found in a number of health food store, all-natural products I thought would be a great alternative. I was BUMMED!

Yes, I love to eat fresh veggies and fruit, and whole grain rice, and other fresh from the ground foods, but I want to be able to enjoy more that just that. I want some healthy snack foods that I don't have to make from scratch all the time. I love a healthy chip & dip, a protein smoothie, a frozen dairy treat being on my menu! It's tough to avoid ready made foods the rest of your life! That's TOUGH!

And I don't want to, either! So, I'm going to be writing food companies, asking about the glutamates they serve, asking them to stop using them, finding truly safe choices to eat, and generally making my voice heard and voting with my dollars for safe food choices.

Two things I've changed so far: No more Chick fil A chicken! The grilled chicken has 3 forms of glutamic acid. I'm sticking with the plain salad, cole slaw and bringing my own dressings again. One salad dressing/sauce company I will be using: LiteHouse Brand. Check out their products and policy on MSG.

I won't be eating out much, and I will be making more from scratch at home. And when I find some great foods that are glutamate free - I'll let you know!

Until then, keep reading those food labels and keep up the good work on your health and well-being!

April 08, 2009

I knew MSG and it's various names and forms was not good for the body, but I just didn't know how bad it really is until I started back on the research for the post!

SO, I'm staying in the lab a little longer!

I'm working on a little further info, and also looking into some great MSG free choices to eat. We all need to know some healthy alternatives to our fav foods, right? Check back in this weekend, and I'll be sharing some final thoughts and findings on MSG & how to eat well without it.

March 27, 2009

Lab rats. Ever thought about how they get the rats into the disease state they want to then fix or experiment on?

Hmmmm . . . . I never thought about it until I started dealing with my own health and weight issues. Then, I found all the information on the food issues that contributed to my ill health. I was shocked, and then I was mad!

Are you a lab rat as well?

Seems that we all are. I know you're thinking, "You're just a paranoid person. Our food supply is safe and no one would knowingly harm people." You really think so? Let's find out. . . .

MSG is injected under the skin of day old mice and rats to produce obese animals with a predisposition to diabetes! This has been one
of the standard lab procedures for 30 some-odd years!

MSG not only causes fat-gain and obsesity, it damages the brain and causes a host of serious health problems in the body. John Erb, author of the book The Slow Poisoning of America believes that MSG is the food industry's equivalent to Nicotine. "Studies have shown that people who eat food laced with MSG eat more of it, and faster than food that does not have this additive. If it makes the elderly eat more, what is it doing to our nations' health?
Glutamate is an amino acid that can excite almost every major organ in the body, especially the brain. It occurs naturally in milligram amounts in some harvested foods. Now, however, a person can get as much as a teaspoonful a day. John Erb finds this especially disparaging considering in some countries of the world one tablespoon of MSG is given to dogs to make them go into epileptic convulsions until they die!"

Because MSG affects the brain, it is CRUCIAL that all pregnant and nursing women avoid MSG at all costs. It can definitely cross from you to your baby and affect their brains as well!
"When ingested by human test subjects MSG directly affects the Pancreas stimulating it to triple its standard output of insulin output. This unnatural amount of insulin finds the sugar in the blood and converts it to fat. A few hours after you eat MSG the excess insulin the MSG triggers reduces your blood sugar level so much that you become tired and even hungry again. In animal test subjects this excess insulin leads to hyperinsulinemia: the chronic overproduction of insulin. The pancreas becomes so out of control that the body starts producing killer T cells to shut it down. Is it any wonder why diabetes, obesity and lethargy in our youths are at an all time high? Junk foods, processed foods, even cafeteria foods are now laced with large amounts of exitotoxic glutamates." John Erb reports. Now, causing obesity and other metabolic issues is bad enough, but MSG does much more damage to the body than just your weight. Because it damages the brain itself, it can cause or contribute to diseases such as ADD/ADHD, autism, pituitary tumors, epilepsy, migraines, sleep disorders, panic/rage disorders, and more.

So you want to stop eating MSG? Great! Me too! The sickening part - excuse the pun - is that it is hidden in our foods and goes by other names than just MSG! Flavour
enhancers can appear in foods under the following description:

And most importantly - MOST fast foods and restaurant foods! Junk & fast foods really do make you fat and sick!

Let's sum up so far! The two worst things you can eat are High Fructose Corn Syrup and MSG additives. It causes obesity, diabetes, and other serious health issues. BOTH of these things are found in most of the every day foods that you eat! You must make the conscious effort to buy truly all natural, non-enhanced, or organic foods available. Sticking with your basic clean meats, veggies & fruits, and some of the better whole grains is your best choice to stay healthy and disease free!

For more information and to check out the sources of information I used go to:

February 09, 2009

Well, plenty it seems! So, maybe some of you know what they feed cows, chickens, and pigs to fatten them up and maybe you don't. It's grain, mainly from corn!

You might think you don't eat that much corn to be "the fatted calf", but think again. I knew I was consuming more corn because it's one grain I can eat as a celiac, but when I read this article by Dr. Mercola - I was surprised at the amount!

I'm consciously trying to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from my diet because I know the research that shows it does contribute to obesity and messes with your insulin levels, but my total intake of corn will decrease based on this information from Dr. Mercola's site:

*Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners
from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they
discovered that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was not only cheaper
to make, it was also much sweeter (processed fructose is nearly
20 times sweeter than table sugar), and this switch has drastically
altered the American diet.

In 1966, sucrose made up 86 percent of sweeteners. Today, 55 percent
of sweeteners used are made from corn. And while people ate no high-fructose
corn syrup in 1966, they ate close to 63 pounds each in 2001.

HFCS, which is made from cornstarch, is now used to sweeten:

Soft drinks

Fruit juices

Baked goods

Canned fruits

Dairy products

Cookies

Gum

Jams and jellies

Salad dressings

Some cereals

It contains similar amounts of both fructose and glucose, whereas
sucrose is a larger sugar molecule that is metabolized in the intestine
into glucose and fructose.

HFCS is the only caloric sweetener in U.S. soft drinks and over
60 percent of the calories in apple juice, which is used as a base
for many fruit drinks, come from fructose. The primary source of
HFCS in the American diet is soda and juice--about two-thirds of
all fructose consumed in the United States is in beverages.

Researchers estimated that Americans eat 132 calories of HFCS while
the top 20 percent of sweetener consumers eat over 300. And some,
they say, eat as much as 700 calories per day of HFCS.

A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
looked into the feed sources of animals used for meat at fast food
chains including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. After chemically
analyzing the food, they found that corn was the nearly exclusive food
source for the beef and chicken served at these fast food restaurants.

In
case you aren’t aware, cattle are not designed to eat corn, and doing
so disrupts their digestive systems. Therefore they’re fed antibiotics
to keep them from getting sick. The corn crops are also genetically modified, and sprayed heavily with pesticides that get transferred to you when you eat the meat.

Corn
is not only in meat, it’s in one-third of the products at an average
supermarket, along with fuel and countless consumer products like
paint, cosmetics and plastics.

There are over 35 years of hard empirical evidence that refined
man-made fructose like HFCS metabolizes to triglycerides and adipose
tissue, not blood glucose. The downside of this is that fructose does
not stimulate your insulin secretion, nor enhance leptin production.
(Leptin is a hormone thought to be involved in appetite regulation.)

Because
insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you
eat, as well as your body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose
may contribute to increased food intake and weight gain. Further:

• HFCS is metabolized to fat in your
body far more rapidly than any other sugar, and, because most fructose
is consumed in liquid form (soda), its negative metabolic effects are
significantly magnified.

• Recent research, reported at the 2007
national meeting of the American Chemical Society, found new evidence
that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS may contribute to the development of diabetes
because it contains high levels of reactive compounds that have been
shown to trigger cell and tissue damage that cause diabetes.

• HFCS is almost always made from genetically modified corn, which is fraught with its own well documented side effects and health concerns, such as increasing your risk of developing a food allergy to corn.

So there you have it! Are you one of those being fattened up by all the corn and corn by-products you eat? I was - and am still weeding out the bad stuff now!

"Now what do I do?" you might ask. Good question! I'm buying all natural or organic salad dressings with just plain old sugar, and making sure that the sugar level is low. I'm buying only organic, non-gmo corn chips and products - many of which are finding their way into my regular super market. And while the gluten free diet relies on flours and starches like corn starch, I don't have to consume so much in my every day diet! More veggies with whole grain rice is probably a better choice for me.

And if I just have to have a soda - there are some healthier choices at the whole foods markets that have regular sugar and not HFCS. I just use them sparingly as a treat.

One toxic "food" down, a few more to go . . . . next we'll deal with lab rats!

High Fructose Corn Syrup - and the t.v. commercials want you to believe it's safe!

MSG and it's many hidden forms and names

Artificial colors, dyes, flavorings

Hormone and Antibiotic laden dairy and meats

Pesticides and Fungicides on the food, in the dirt, and genetically engineered into the food

Most fast food

Ok, some of this you already knew about and some of this you don't want to know about! We are so addicted to our food choices, that we don't want to know or believe the truth about them. But I'm here to share the truth the best I can with as much research as I can provide to back it up.

Now honestly, you might be thinking, "What the heck am I supposed to eat, then?" Well, what we already know to be healthy! Fresh veggies, whole grains that are not too processed - even for a "whole grain", healthy meats and dairy, fresh fruit. All the stuff primarily around the perimeter of your grocery store and that takes some time and effort to choose and cook!

I really think the problem with eating healthy is that we just want fast and convenient. Eating healthy changes where we eat out at and how often. We think we're giving up the good stuff and depriving ourselves. We think it won't taste as good and it's hard to find good substitutes for the bad stuff. Or, we stop to consider the difference in cost rather than health.

Now, I've been there, and I still struggle with wanting the less healthy choices - I still dip in the toxic pool from time to time. But I feel so much better on the good stuff, and when I think about what I'm really putting into my mouth, it certainly helps me to abstain!

So, what really is so toxic about all the stuff listed above? Let's find out . . . .

January 11, 2009

Just a quickie for all of you who want to fend off the flu this season! Many of you may have already taken a flu shot - hopefully you didn't, but if so hopefully it didn't make you sick. Unfortunately, the flu your shot is supposed to prevent, might not be the strain you get exposed to! Not to mention that vaccines in general aren't always all they're touted to be. Big controversy going on with this topic! There are some better ways to keep the flu at bay without the shot. Really! I promise!

The flu season is starting up slow this year - who knows why, but that's good news for all of us. What can you do right now to fend it off this year?

Start taking a daily dose of vitamin D at a minimum of 1000 I.U.'s - 2000 I.U.'s if you don't ever get out in the sunshine. Vitamin D is an excellent flu preventer. Check out this amazing article for more info. Of course vitamin C should be in your daily regimen as well, and you can take 1000 mg of it daily (more or less depending on your diet & vitamin intake).

Start taking an immune building supplement. There are many good ones on the market, and most of them are pretty good quality.

Get enough sleep at night! Not sleeping enough hours on a regular basis seriously impairs your immune system making you susceptible to many illnesses other than the flu! See this article about it.

Of course eating right and exercising is also good for helping your body stay healthy and strong enough to fight off all the bad stuff that bombards it each day. And all of us should know by now to wash your hands when you've touched door handles, shopping carts, or other public surfaces before you ever touch your nose, mouth, or eyes! Keep some hand sanitizer in your pocket or purse if you can't wash when you need to.

If you are exposed to or do get the flu, my first recommendation is get something called oscillococcinum, which you can get at Walmart, Walgreen's, health food stores, and probably other stores near you. It's an all natural flu remedy, as described below from their site: www.oscillo.com.

"As soon as you start feeling run-down or have other flu-like symptoms, take Oscillococcinum. Oscillo®
is regulated as a drug by the FDA and is supported by published
clinical studies as well as more than 65 years of use throughout the
world.

Clinical studies show that Oscillo reduces the severity and duration of flu symptoms

Great taste and convenient to take

No side effects or interactions with other medications

Good for everyone 2 years of age and older"

I've taken this once or twice when I was teaching full time and was exposed through my students. If you take it the first day you feel the symptoms, the faster it works. I have avoided getting sick when I took this - it is truly awesome, with NO nasty side effects, doctor visits, or expensive prescriptions. In fact, I keep it on hand when flu season hits, just in case.

Of course, if any or all of the above doesn't do the trick, don't hesitate to get to your doctor and let them help you!

So there you have it! You don't have to get sick like everyone else. Be the smart one and say Shoo to the FLU!